Woody's Music Theory Adventure
GuitarGames.net is proud to announce the release of our newest music theory game: Woody’s Music Theory Adventure! It is the first game that not only quizzes, but teaches you music theory as you play. We tested it on non-musicians, and by the end they knew the musical alphabet, sharps, flats, whole-steps, half-steps, the formula for major scales, and how to construct them. It’s a great game for kids or adults new to music. More info here or play it now!
Get a copy of the Interval Crabwalk PDF here.
Interval Crabwalk
Thanks to everyone who attended the webinar! If you missed it it can be seen here. The audio is a little choppy at the beginning, but the rest is fine 
To practice intervals on the guitar I suggest the following:
1) Play the interval crab walk as described in the webinar.
2) Play Super Scale Trainer in Quiz mode for intervals.
I would start by concentrating on min 2nds, may 2nds, minor 3rds, and major 3rds. Spend a week just singing, playing, and quizzing on those.
More to come soon!
Wouldn’t it be great if you could hear notes on a recording and find them on your guitar instantly? Intervals are the link between hearing notes and finding them on the guitar. For the past month we have been working on interval ear training, now it’s time to look under the hood and understand how intervals work.
Have you ever wondered what major or minor mean? Or why some intervals are called perfect? Attend our Music Theory Webinar!
Topics include:
The webinar will take place on Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 1pm EST. To sign up visit our webinar page. Attendance will be limited to 25. I hope you can make it!
Interval Worksheet
Time to finish up all the intervals First make sure you have a copy of the interval worksheet printed out. You can download it here. This week let’s add the remaining intervals: Major 6th, Minor 7th, Major 7th, and the octave. Here’s what to do:
1) Play the interval on your guitar (An example of each interval is shown on the interval worksheet).
2) Describe the interval
3) Share: Feel free to share what you hear in the comments. Last week we had some examples from YouTube which I thought was helpful.
After completing the interval worksheet for Maj 6, min 7, Maj 7, and the
octave (Perfect 8th) play Ear Tester using just these intervals. Can you reach 90% accuracy or above? How about with all the intervals we have covered so far? Listen for distance. Ask yourself if the notes sound close together or far apart. This will help eliminate certain choices.
Next week signups for the Theory webinar will open, I hope you can make it!
Interval Worksheet
Let’s add some more intervals to the ones we covered in the webinar! First make sure you have a copy of the interval worksheet printed out. You can download it here. This week let’s add the perfect fourth, tritone, perfect fifth, and minor sixth. Here’s what to do:
1) Play the interval on your guitar (An example of each interval is shown on the interval worksheet).
2) Describe the interval
3) Share: Feel free to share what you hear in the comments. For a bonus see if you can hear the Stars Wars theme and Here comes the Bride in the new intervals (P4, tritone, P5, m6). I use both of those to this day.
After completing the interval worksheet for the Perfect 4th, Tritone, Perfect 5th, and Minor 6th play Ear Tester using just these intervals. Can you reach 90% accuracy or above? How about with all the intervals we have covered so far?
Next week one more assignment, and then I’ll be scheduling the second webinar, probably around Nov. 19th, so we can get it in before Thanksgiving. We’ll cover the theory side of things. I’m looking forward to it, hope you are too!
Excellent webinar everyone! It was good fun and I think we accomplished a lot. If you missed it you can see a recording of it here: InstantPresenter.com/GuitarGames
As promised here is your assignment for this week!
That’s all for now. I’ll have a new assignment next week. Have fun!
Upcoming Webinar: Ear Training – How to Learn Guitar Faster Oct 22, 2011 1pm EST (Sign Up)
A Startling Discovery
I’ve been teaching guitar to children for many years. They were the original inspiration for the games on this site. The challenge was, how do I get kids excited about music theory and ear training? Fast forward five years. I’m beginning to see some startling results. Namely this: Students who work on theory and ear training learn to play the guitar faster.
This was an amazing discovery for me. Yes, I always knew that learning music theory and ear training was important, but I was told that reading music and traditional methods of learning were slower than the tab approach to learning guitar.
I have had several amazing experiences recently that have turned this idea on its head. What I found was that students who played Woody Says (an ear training game) frequently, have the ability to hum a note and instantly find it on the guitar. Like most students they would get to a point in a song where they played a wrong note or forgot the next note. But, unlike the average student hunting for the next note, they would hum the missing note and wham! They were able to play it immediately.
Because of this connection between sound and fingers these students learned faster than the students who didn’t play the games. I came to this realization: Students who have connected the sound of music to the locations on the guitar learn music faster.
I have a student who can sing a melody and name the finger numbers needed on the spot. How? Woody Says and Ear Training!
It Can Work For You Too
Ear training and music theory can have the same effect on your guitar (or bass) playing. You can learn to play guitar with less struggle. Sound and the fretboard can become one reality instead of two separate worlds. The games on this site can have this effect on your playing.
To jump start your journey into ear training I’m putting together a series of online webinars (classes) on ear training.
If you are interested in learning the guitar faster sign up for the webinar today! Click here to register. The first webinar will take place October 22, 2011, at 1 pm (EST). The webinar is free to GuitarGames.net members, but limited to 25 students.
Sep. 24, 2011 6PM (EST) – Improve your rhythm and understand musical notation, attend this month’s webinar at GuitarGames.net. Whether you don’t know your quarter notes from your eighths or can’t tap along to a polka, I am here to help. We’ll cover the following:
The webinar will take place this Saturday September 24th at 6 PM EST (3PM PST). The webinar is free, To attend, please contact William Wilson and include the words “Rhythm Webinar” in your subject line.
Update! Thanks to all of you who attended the webinar, if you missed it there is a recording at: http://www.instantpresenter.com/guitargames
photo by DVIDSHUBS
This Saturday, September 10, 2011, GuitarGames.net will host a one day competition for its game Birds of Fretopia. Starting at 12AM (PST) the scores for Birds of Fretopia will be erased. The competition will last until 8PM (PST) the same day. The person with the high score at the end of the competition will win a $40 gift certificate to Amazon.com! The competition is open to everyone.
Over the next week, tips will be sent out via Twitter and Facebook to help contestants prepare for the competition. Stay tuned and may the smartest guitarist win!
This Friday, September 2nd, 2011 at 6pm EST (3pm PST) William Wilson will be hosting a free webinar on the notes of the guitar fretboard. In it William will discuss the three fretboard landmarks, the logic behind the fretboard, and resources that will help students learn to read music on the guitar. The webinar is open to the public, but limited to 25 attendees. To attend, please contact William and include the words “Fretboard Webinar” in your subject line.
William Wilson is the creator of GuitarGames.net and author of Guitar Games: Learn Guitar. Read Music. Fight Space Monsters. He teaches guitar and performs throughout Southern California.
